1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to computer implemented processes for improving drilling operations, and in particular to a system and method for facilitating the selection and use of drill bits by anticipating or predicting the potential occurrence of undesirable geographic conditions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Interfacial severity is an undesirable geologic condition which impedes drilling operations. In general, drilling operations are performed in a manner which compensate for the occurrence of interfacial severity. One factor which can be controlled is the selection of particular drill bits from a group of available drill bits. Certain bits may operate better under high interfacial severity drilling conditions, while other bits are more prone to damage under high interfacial severity drilling conditions.
It is one objective of the present invention to provide a new system, method, and apparatus for providing an indicator of potential interfacial severity in a particular wellbore, which utilizes an inference engine computer program which consists of executable instructions, and which is adapted to utilize a plurality of wellbore parameters as inputs, and which produces an indicator of potential interfacial severity. It is another objective of the present invention to provide such an indicator which may be utilized in selecting particular drill bits for use in a particular wellbore.
These and other objectives are achieved as is now described. A method and apparatus are provided for generating an indicator of potential for abrupt changes in rock strength in a particular wellbore. Forensic wellbore data is obtained from at least one previously drilled wellbore which is determined to be comparable to the target wellbore. An interfacial severity computer program is provided. The program consists of executable program instructions. It is adapted to utilize a plurality of wellbore parameters, including at least one forensic wellbore data element. The interfacial severity computer program is loaded onto a data processing system. At least the forensic wellbore data, and possibly other wellbore parameter data elements, are supplied as an input to the interfacial severity computer program. The data processing system is utilized to execute program instructions of the interfacial severity computer program. This applies the inputs to the interfacial severity computer program which produces as an output an indicator of the potential for abrupt changes in rock strength in the particular target wellbore.
The above as well as additional objectives, features, and advantages will become apparent in the following description.